1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an apparatus and method for teaching a cappella singing to the various members of an a cappella singing group.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The English language translation for the Italian phrase a cappella is xe2x80x9cas chapelxe2x80x9d, and refers to the singing that had been performed in churches without the benefit of musical accompaniment. Today the term a cappella is used to describe a style of popular music, and typically 1950""s style music, that is sung without musical accompaniment.
An a cappella singing group typically will include four singers, namely a lead singer, a tenor or alto, a baritone and a bass. Each of the singers has a specific role in the a cappella musical performance, and the respective roles must be carefully orchestrated relative to one another. Each a cappella singer must know his or her own part as well as how each singer""s part coordinates with the parts of other singers in the group. Most a cappella singing groups acknowledge that 8-10 hours of practice are required for each new song.
A cappella singing groups exist on many college campuses and are associated with many clubs outside the academic world. These groups perform for their own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of others at various social functions. One of the difficulties faced by a cappella singing groups is the time required for learning a new song and practicing songs that are part of the group""s repertoire. In particular, individual singers in an a cappella group seldom can coordinate their free time to achieve the 8-10 hours of required to perfect a new song.
The prior art includes various systems that are intended to enable one part of a musical group to perform independently of other parts. For example; the prior art is replete with examples of Karoake systems where a singer provides the vocal accompaniment for prerecorded instrumental music. Most prior art Karoake systems include a video accompaniment which displays the lyrics of a song on a screen at the appropriate time for the singer. Karoake systems are of little benefit to a cappella groups which, by definition, perform without instrumentation. Additionally, Karoake systems provide little or no assistance to singers who are trying to learn how one musical part coordinates with the musical parts performed by other singers in the a cappella group.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,466 is directed to a system employing prerecorded magnetic tapes for teaching various parts in a musical score, a play or a vocal performance. The tape includes a first track with an ensemble rendition of the program with a particular part of the program omitted from the prerecorded ensemble rendition. A control track is provided with control signals representative of preselected stop locations. A third track on the tape is provided for a student to perform a version of the omitted performance. A fourth track includes an exemplary performance of the omitted performance, such as one performed by a professional or teacher. The four track system employed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,466 is roughly comparable to a four-lane highway, with each lane simultaneously carrying a different array of traffic. More particularly, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,466 requires special recording equipment to record the original tape to be used as a teaching tool, and special costly recording/play back equipment to be used by the student to enable the student to record his or her own performance on a separate one of the tracks while the ensemble track is playing. Conventional tape recording and play back equipment could not utilize the complex teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,466.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,382 relates to a method of teaching a multi-part musical composition. The method is directed to employing a first part of a musical composition at a first volume level and then superimposing on the first part a second part that is recorded at a louder volume than the first part. The louder second part is intended to be listened to and learned.
Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an apparatus and method to enable efficient training of a cappella singing group without the need for complex, costly special equipment.
The subject invention is directed to a system of tapes that can be used with conventional tape recording/play back equipment. More particularly, the system may comprise four separate and distinct tapes for use respectively by a lead singer, a tenor/alto singer, a baritone singer and a bass singer in an a cappella group. Each system of four tapes preferably is dedicated to a single song that is to be learned and practiced by the a cappella group. Each tape in the system includes three sequential recordings on at least one side of the tape, and preferably three sequential recordings on both sides of the tape.
The first recording on the first side of each tape will be a rendition of the selected song by a professional a cappella group, with all members of the professional group singing their respective parts. Thus, the first recording on the first side of each tape will be identical for all four tapes.
The second recording on the first side of each tape will be different for each of the four tapes. More particularly, the second recording on the first side of each tape will be a professional singer singing the particular part to which that tape is dedicated, with the remaining singers in the a cappella group singing at a reduced volume. Thus, the tape dedicated to the lead singer of the a cappella group will have a second recording on the first side of a professional lead singer performing the lead part of the selected song. The other three singers in the a cappella group are audibly detectable on the second recording on the first side of the tape, but are at a lower volume. Similarly, the tape intended for the tenor/also will have the second recording on the first side be of a tenor/alto in a professional a cappella group performing his or her part. Remaining singers of the group are audibly detectable in the second recording of the first side, but at a lower volume. The second recording on the first side of the other two tapes in the system will have comparable recordings of the professional baritone and bass singers. This second recording on each tape in the system enables each of the singers in an a cappella group to learn his or her part and to know how his or her part fits into the parts being sung by the other singers in the a cappella group.
The third recording on each tape in the system also is different from the third recording in each other tape in the system. More particularly, the third recording on the first side of each tape will include every part of the group minus the louder part on the second recording of that tape. However, the three parts in the second recording of each tape will be at a conventional volume, rather than the reduced volume of those same parts in the second recording. The third recording on each tape enables each singer in the a cappella group to practice singing his or her part at the appropriate time with the other singers in the group.
Each tape may end when the first recording on each side has terminated. Conversely, each tape may include an audible indicator at the end of the third recording for instructing the aspiring a cappella singer to flip the tape. The second side of each tape will have the same series of three recordings. However, the recordings will be ordered on the second side to have recording 2, recording 3 and recording 1 in sequence. Thus, the user of any tape in the system may simply flip the tape over at the end of recording 3 on side 1. The user may then listen to recording 2 which had been his or her part at a loud volume simultaneously with the other parts at a reduced volume. After listening to this recording 2 on the second side of the tape, the user then will hear recording 3 which permits the user to sing his or her part simultaneously with the professional a cappella group singing the other three parts of the selected song. The final song on the second side will be the entire professional group singing the selected song.
The subject invention also is directed to a method for teaching music to an a cappella group employing a plurality of identical compact discs. Each disc would include a first track having all four performers performing as they normally would for a group performance. This track of the compact disc can be created by superimposing four recordings of the individual performers at substantially identical or comparable volume levels. The first track may be followed by four separate tracks that respectively emphasize each of the four performers while de-emphasizing the other three performers. Thus, the second track may emphasize the lead singer, while de-emphasizing the tenor, baritone and bass. The third track could emphasize the tenor, while de-emphasizing the lead, baritone and bass. The fourth track could emphasize the baritone while de-emphasizing the lead tenor and bass, and the fifth track could emphasize the bass while de-emphasizing the lead, tenor and baritone.
The above-described first five tracks then may be followed by four additional tracks that de-emphasize only one of the performers, while allowing the playing of the other three performers at a normal level relative to one another. For example, the sixth track on the CD could de-emphasize the lead while playing the tenor, baritone and bass at the same relative level to one another and at a louder level than the de-emphasized lead performer. The seventh track could de-emphasize the tenor, while permitting the lead, baritone and bass to perform at their normal levels. The eighth track could de-emphasize the baritone and the ninth track could de-emphasize the bass. The compact disc then may end with a tenth track that is identical to the first track and that has all four performers recorded simultaneously and at substantially identical volume levels.
As described above, the compact disc would have the second through fifth tracks emphasizing a single performer and the sixth through ninth tracks de-emphasizing a single performer. A variation of this format could have the track that emphasizes a specific performer followed immediately by the track that de-emphasizes that performer""s part. This latter format would reduce the amount of track switching during the learning process.
The learning method would use the compact disc in a manner similar to the method described with respect to the audio cassettes. In particular, four identical compact discs could be provided respectively to the four members of the a cappella group. Each member of the group then would learn a particular song by first listening to a track having all professional performers perform, second listening to a track that emphasized his or her particular part, third listening to a track that de-emphasize his or her particular part so that the performer could practice performing with the professional performers, and finally, at the option of the particular performer, listening to a final track with all professional performers singing properly together and at the same relative volumes. The method may proceed by repeatedly switching between the track that emphasizes the performance of a particular performer followed by the track that de-emphasizes that performance so that the performer could perform to replace the de-emphasized performance.
The method of the subject invention has been described with respect to embodiments that employ audio tapes and compact discs. However, the method also can employ a personal computer connected to the Internet. The respective parts described above can be downloaded from the Internet directly to a particular performer in a group. Thus, a member of a group would only have to download three tracks, namely a track with all four performers performing at an identical volume level, a track with a particular performer""s part emphasized and a final track with the particular performer""s part de-emphasized. The performer then could employ controls on the personal computer to selectively switch back and forth between the three downloaded tracks. Alternatively, all tracks could be downloaded simultaneously. The downloaded information could then permit the performer to identify a part of interest and then could permit the sequential playing of tracks relating to the performer of interest, as described above. In either the compact disc version or the second above-described embodiment of the downloaded version, any performer could listen to the tracks intended for other performers to learn what the other performers are trying to achieve. This would be particularly helpful for the member of the group who is trying to lead the practice and learning sessions.